


Only We Remain

by TheMalhamBird



Category: Henry V - Shakespeare
Genre: F/M, Grief/Mourning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:33:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23478538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMalhamBird/pseuds/TheMalhamBird
Summary: Katherine de Valois prepares to leave for England with her new husband, but first must make some goodbyes. During one of them, she discovers that she King Henry- unlikely though it may seem- share a loss in common
Relationships: Catherine de Valois Queen of England/Henry V of England, Henry V of England/Isabella de Valois Queen of England
Kudos: 6





	Only We Remain

Catherine doesn’t really understand why she wanted to come here. She knew relatively little of her oldest sister, really: Isabelle had been sent to England, and Isabelle had come home again, and Isabelle had been married almost at once to their cousin Charles, and in too short a time Isabelle had died and had been buried. She had wanted…she did not know what she had wanted. To say goodbye? To ask for her blessing- her forgiveness for accepting the crown that used to be Isabelle’s when the father in law Catherine will never meet stole his crown from Isabelle’s husband, and made her a widow to boot?   
“She looks older.”  
Catherine had not understood why King Henry had insisted on accompanying her on this pilgrimage either, unless it was to keep an eye on the treasure he had won. Which isn’t fair, she knows- he is trying and she likes him, despite her reservations. But this is her sister’s tomb. She wants a moment of quiet. To pray, to reflect- to not listen to inane comments. Of course Isabelle looks older than Catherine does! She was twelve years Catherine’s senior and though Catherine was of an age, now, with Isabelle, her sister had always seemed older than her years. And besides, the effigy was not all that good- the mason probably hadn’t even known Isabelle and-  
“It was foolish, I suppose, to have still been picturing her as a ten-year-old girl.”  
Catherine’s breath catches in her throat. She realises that she has clenched her fists in anger and uncurls them slowly as she turns to her husband. King Henry stands like a soldier, hands clasped behind his back and his face as stonily impassive as Isabelle’s effigy. “You knew her,” she breathes, not quite sure if it is a statement or a question. Now she thinks about it she supposes that of course Henry of Lancaster’s son must have at least seen King Richard II’s queen, but she does not know “…were you friends?” she asks. A muscle in Henry’s face twitches, as though he’s trying to supress a smile- or a grimace. Catherine does not know him well enough to know which.   
“My father wanted me to marry her.” Henry says. This, Catherine does know- she has been informed of it enough times in recent weeks. An unexpected bitterness flares up in the pit of her stomach and lives bile on her tongue; she wonders if she is his consolation prize for missing out on her older sister. But then Henry says: “I told him I would not,” We had robbed King Richard of enough and I could barely stand- I mean,” he breaks off, flushing a little. “If I were her, I would not have wanted to be so closely bound to my father. If he had had my husband killed. And we were friends, I did not want to be the cause of more pain, although I have sometimes wondered whether she would have said yes if I had asked her, and if that might have-” he breaks off abruptly, staring at Isabelle’s effigy. A storm cloud seems to have gathered on his brow.   
Catherine tentatively reaches out one hand and touches one of his held behind his back.   
He takes it.   
There is quiet. Peace.   
“I think,” Catherine says at last. “I think that the past is…it has been buried. All that we can do is live and see what the future brings us.”  
“Yes,” Henry says, although he does not seem convinced. “Everything gone, and dead, and buried- and only we remain.”


End file.
